Shasti O’Leary Soudant
American, born 1967
Shasti O’Leary Soudant's Gut Flora, 2017, at the NFTA’s Allen/Medical Campus Station. Photograph by Tom Loonan.
Gut Flora,
Public Artwork Details
Currently on View
Materials:
Powder-coated steel
Credit:
Commissioned by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Public Art Initiative, 2016
Location: NFTA Allen/Medical Campus Station (Get Directions)
Shasti O’Leary Soudant’s new installation for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s Allen/Medical Campus Station comprises six stainless-steel sculptures. Collectively titled Gut Flora, the colorful, 11-foot-tall structures are inspired by bacteria and constructed of individually powder-coated steel sections. These sections are joined to make helical forms that extend from floor to ceiling, creating the illusion that they penetrate both surfaces.
The title Gut Flora refers to the recent scientific determination that beneficial bacteria are essential to good health and should be cultivated and encouraged. If we were to consider the tunnels, concourses, and stations of the City of Buffalo’s public transportation system as analogous to the circulatory and digestive systems of the human body, it is only natural that these are populated by forms related to biological flora and fauna.
The work was fabricated locally in conjunction with the Rigidized Metals Corporation in Buffalo, where Soudant is the organization’s inaugural artist-in-residence.
About Shasti O’Leary Soudant
Shasti O’Leary Soudant is a Buffalo-based artist who employs various mediums and materials to create objects and immersive experiences. These aim to explore hidden systems that, when structured in algorithmic or systematic arrangements, result in unexpected and surprising outcomes. Visit Shasti O’Leary Soudant's Website
Project Sponsors
This project has been made possible through the support of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, with additional support provided by Colleagues, Friends, and Family in memory of John E. Friedlander, First Chief Executive Officer of Kaleida Health, 1998–2001.
This project has been made possible through the support of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, with additional support provided by Colleagues, Friends, and Family in memory of John E. Friedlander, First Chief Executive Officer of Kaleida Health, 1998–2001.
Initiative Sponsors
The Public Art Initiative is supported by the County of Erie and the City of Buffalo.
The Public Art Initiative is supported by the County of Erie and the City of Buffalo.
